Bambi Francisco Roizen

Lover of life

2000 - Top 10 most influential journalists by Adweek, 2001 - Blue Chip All Star Team by Journal of Financial Reporters

I want to change the world.

One day it feels like you're on top of the world. The next day, it feels like it's all over.

They don't realize that entrepreneurship is a journey and often a long and hard slog.

On Teams:

Take your first 10 and assume each one's going to replicate themselves 10 times. Patrick Collison, co-founder of Stripe said this and it's one of the best ways we can think about hiring. If you don't want to clone that person you're considering, he/she is probably not a good hire.

On capital:

Don't take "a lot" of money, early on. It only creates a higher return hurdle for you, and often adds undue pressure. Most businesses take time to bake and take multiple iterations on the product and business model to get it right. If you take too much money early on, it just means you'll make more expensive mistakes. There's a great deal of learning that occurs when you're scrappy.

On passion and the problem:

Entrepreneurship is hard. Building a business and being responsible for others and their livelihood is a constant thought. So if you want to make something special for them and the others, you have to be so in love with what you're doing that you'd do it even if you didn't get paid at all. But you have to have a focus on the "problem" and you have to really want to solve that "problem." If you're not in love with that problem, and you're more in love with your product -- your passion might wane.

On staying alert:

There's nothing like putting yourself outside of your comfort zone to build character and knowledge. As Eleanor Roosevelt said: "Do one thing that scares you every day."

I will add to what Eleanor said:

I may not do one thing that scares me every day. Sometimes, I pile up a bunch into one day and rest on the 7th :-)

I have a dream.

Entrepreneur, investor, wife, mother, author. Founder and CEO of Vator, a media and research firm for entrepreneurs and investors; Managing Director of Vator Health Fund; Co-Founder of Invent Health; Author of "Unequally Yoked, Finding balance and hope in our differences." Former award-winning tech/financial columnist at Dow Jones MarketWatch, providing analysis on tech startups on Fox Business News, CNBC, CBS.

Vator was a side project of mine that was a mere concept while I was a columnist/correspondent at Dow Jones MarketWatch. It was originally started to help me vet the many startups pitching me while I was a journalist. It was designed to ensure that those I couldn't cover would have a platform for others to find them. I left in April 2007 and launched Vatortv in June 2007.

At Dow Jones, I covered Internet trends and investments across the public and private sectors. I was a morning business anchor for KPIX (the local CBS affiliate in San Francisco), and reported on MarketWatch's business magazine show on CBS. I made frequent appearances as an expert on technology on CNBC, Fox Business News, and CBS. I was named one of the top 10 most influential journalists on the Web, by Adweek. In the 'mid-90s, I worked as producer at CNN's financial news network, where I created, launched and produced business shows, including one on IPOs and new ideas. 

I am married to Ezra Roizen. We have four boys.